F.
A. Thorp
Thorp, a Houston violin maker, built the above one-of-a-kind piece of mandophonica
between 1958 and 1960. It's tuned FCGDA, like a mandola or tenor guitar
with a low F string. It features a birdseye maple neck (22 1/4" scale),
mother-of-pearl inlay, and a single-coil pickup. It was made for Ken Hazelett,
a grand champion fiddle and banjo player who also resided in Texas. Also
pictured are a couple of Thorp 5-string electrics of more conventional dimensions,
both sporting DeArmond pickups.